Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GLD vs SLV: Differences, Returns & Fees
GLD and SLV are both commodity funds, and over the year to Oct 28, 2026, SLV returned +14.9% against +2.5%.
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Net assets: $135.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for SPDR Gold Shares, and $26.9bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Silver Trust.
Pair scorecard
GLD costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 12.4 points; GLD is 5.1 times larger.
| Measure | GLD | SLV |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +2.5% | +14.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 24.7%, high on Jan 29, 2026 | 53.5%, high on Jan 28, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold | Silver |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.40% | 0.50% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $135.8bn | $26.5bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
Risk and return
May 5, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,068 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GLD against IAU, Feb 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026; SLV against SIVR, Jul 31, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026.
GLD returned more: +439.2% to +248.1%. GLD swung less: 17.4% to 32.5%. GLD fell less at its worst: −44.7% to −75.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GLD | SLV | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +439.2% | +248.1% | GLD | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +8.5% | +6.3% | GLD | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +439.2% | +248.1% | GLD | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 17.4% | 32.5% | GLD | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.0% | 23.0% | GLD | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −44.7% | −75.2% | GLD | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.4% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.9% | 100.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.46 | 0.30 | GLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.67 | 0.42 | GLD | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.097 | 0.107 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.19 | 0.08 | GLD | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IAU | SIVR | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | −0.2% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.57 | −0.92 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +0.2% | −0.6% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.18 | −0.19 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.7% | 0.8% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,068 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
GLD and SLV on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
GLD and SLV are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- What each follows. GLD follows Gold and SLV follows Silver.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 GLD returned +2.5% and SLV +14.9% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 12.4 points.
- Cost. GLD charges 0.40% of assets a year and SLV 0.50%, a gap of 0.10 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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Its expense ratio is 0.40% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.
GLD holds gold. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.5% with distributions reinvested, against +2.7% for its benchmark, the price of gold. It sat 24.7% below its high of Jan 29, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Its expense ratio is 0.50% a year, for the three months to Jun 30, 2026, as its 10-Q states.
SLV holds silver. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.9% with distributions reinvested, against +15.0% for its benchmark, the price of silver. It sat 53.5% below its high of Jan 28, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, GLD or SLV?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, GLD returned +2.5% and SLV +14.9%.
- Which is cheaper, GLD or SLV?
- GLD is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's own filings.
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ETFIQ, GLD against SLV, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-slv
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). GLD against SLV. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-slv
[GLD against SLV (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/gld-vs-slv)
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